Lock for lamps.



L. HOFFMAN.

LOOK FOR LAMPS.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.13,1911.

1,005,216. v Patented Oct 10,1911.

579:]. Fig. 5.

CLARENCE LEON HOFFMAN, 035 DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

LOOK FOR LAMPS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1911.

Application filed March 13, 1911. Serial No. 614,007.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE LEON Horr- MAN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Detroit, in the county of Payne and State of Michigan, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Looks for Lamps, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to looks for lamps, and especially for automobile head or side lights, and it has for its object the provision of a holder which may be rigidly fastened to the machine, and on which the lamps may be detachably secured against accidental loss or theft.

The invention has been clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which similar characters denote similar parts and in which Figure 1 is a side View of my improved holder and lock; Fig. 2 is a top view thereof; Fig. 3 represents a section on line 3, 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 41 shows the detachable member of the lock, per se, and Fig. 5 is a bottom view thereof.

Briefly stated, the present invention comprises a bracket or holder on which the lamp may be supported in proper position as to the direction of light and thus held not only against displacement but also against removal. Furthermore the holder is adapted for lamp-sockets of various lengths and may be adjusted or set for any desired length within certain limits, it being understood that the lamps of this kind have sockets of a generally accepted standard diameter so that lamps of any desired manufacture may be placed on the same brackets. Ordinarily each lamp socket is provided with a set screw whereby itmay be secured to the bracket, but these set-screws are apt to loosen due to the jar of the machine, and many lamps are lost not only on that account but also through deliberate t-heft facilitated by the ease of access to the setscrew. Then again it often occurs that the jar of the machine causes the lamp to turn on its supporting bracket, thus throwing the light in a direction different from that for which it was originally set. Also different shaped brackets have to be employed for their adaption to be secured to differently disposed surfaces on the chassis or body, as for instance some brackets are secured to vertical faces, while others again are secured to horizontal faces either on top or below, so that, in short, each mode of securing required a special form of foot for the bracket.

It is, therefore, the aim of my present invention to remedy all the various defects and inconveniences above mentioned, and this aim is accomplished by the device illustrated in the drawings and comprising a bracket 10 having a vertical post 11 on which the lamp is to be secured, and a horizontal arm 12 which is supported at its end by a foot-member 13 connected thereto by a pivot pin 14: so that the foot may be swung around to assume any one of the different positions such as indicated by dot-and-dash lines A and B respectively, and thus be adapted to be secured to any desired surface without bringing the post 13 out of its vertical position. After the foot member 13 has been brought into the required positions relatively to the post 11, it may be rigidly held in that position by a pin 15 passing through an aperture in each of the ears 13 of the foot member, and also through the particular aperture 12' of the horizontal bracket-arm 12 which may be in register with the apertures in the ears 13 at that time. In order to hold the parts together, the pin 15 may be headed-over at both ends thereof.

The upper end 16 of the vertical post 11 is of standard diameter to fit into the socket S of the lamp-body L, and it has side wings 17 fitting recesses or notches a cut into the lower face of the socket S. From this it follows that the lamp is positively positioned, rot-atively as well as to its resting point vertically, on the post 16, and there only remains a locking device to be provided therefor, so that the socket shall be guarded against unauthorized removal or accidental displacement. I accomplish this result by a shouldered or head lock-member 17 preferably integral with a cylindrical shank 18 which has a rotatively-interlocked connection with the post 16, and which is also provided with side extensions or wings 19 fitting into recesses or notches 1" in the upper end of the socket S, the parts being so organized that very little, if any, looseness may exist between the lamp-socket and the retaining wings 17 and 19.

New, inasmuch as the vertical lengths of the lampsockets may vary to some extent in the lamps of different manufacture and it is undesirable to cut the height of such sockets down to a certain distance, I have provided means whereby the distance vertically between the wings 17 and 19 may be varied to meet the length of the lamp-socket to be used, while at the same time the actual locking mechanism (whereby the parts are held against separation) is not interfered with. This. locking mechanism comprises any desired key-operated lock, such as indi cated at 20, and'the bolt of which is adapted to interlock with a notch 21 (see Fig. 1) provided in a stem 22 which is preferably non-cylindrical in cross section and is fitted for vertical movement in a correspondingly shaped passage 23 in the post end 16, so that when the lock is open, the stem may be pulled upward, and with it the head-member 17 which is in screw-threaded, or otherwise adjustable, engagement with the upper portion 22 of the stem (see Fig. 3).

WVhen thelock 20 is operative, the socket is positively locked in place against vertical movement as well as against rotation relatively to the post 16, while the upper member 17 is also held against being unscrewed from the stem 22 by virtue of the interlock between the shank 18 and post 16, and also by virtue of the wings 19 being in engagement with the notches r of the socket which latter cannot turn on account of its notches a being in engagement with the wings 17 of the post 16. l

Many changes may be made in the particular organization and construction of some of the cooperating elements of my improved device, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. The combination with a lamp having a socket, of a holder therefor comprising an arm adapted to enter said socket, a headmember also adapted to enter said socket and to abut against the upper end of said socket, and means for positively locking said arm and head member against separation.

2. The combination with a lamp having a socket, of a holder therefor comprising an arm adapted to enter said socket, a headmember also adapted to enter said socket and to abut against the upper end of said socket,

a stem carried by said head member, and a lock-mechanism adapted to engage said stem for locking said arm and head member against separation.

3. The combination with a lamp having a socket, of a holder therefor comprising an arm adapted to enter said socket a headmember also adapted to enter said socket and to abut against the upper end of said socket, and adjustable means for positively locking said arm and head member against separation.

4. The combination with a lamp having a socket, of a holder therefor comprising an arm adapted to enter said socket, a headmember also adapted to enter said socket and to abut against the upper end of said socket, a stem in screwthreaded engagement with said stem, means for holding said stem against rotation and longitudinal movement in said arm, and means for locking said head against rotation.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CLARENCE LEON HOFFMAN. Witnesses:

C. R. STIGKNEY,

F. E. ERNs'r.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

